Family-friendly ‘Tournament of Kings,’ a Strip favorite, is back in the saddle

By Brock Radke (call)

Wednesday, July 14, 2021 | two a.m.

Jousting, sword fights and an attack from an evil wizard may well not spring to brain when you consider of a meal demonstrate in Las Vegas. But “Tournament of Kings” at Excalibur is the Strip’s longest-running meal demonstrate, serving up Cornish game hens together with all that medieval motion since the castle-themed on line casino and resort to start with opened in 1990.

The one of a kind demonstrate will be carried out tonight for the to start with time since very last March, returning to its 900-seat arena-style showroom at six p.m. and its 10-demonstrate weekly plan, running six evenings a week.

“When we want back in to get completely ready to begin rehearsals, the showroom looked sort of like if you excavated a tomb in Egypt, because it’s all filth. It hadn’t been touched. There had been no footprints anyplace,” reported Phil Shelburne, the show’s firm director since 1999 when it was revised from the first “King Arthur’s Tournament” iteration. “It was rather a sight to see. We’ve been rehearsing for about six months and going through a large amount of conditioning to be in a position to do all the sword combating and falling off horses and all the motion sequences.”

The creation basically froze the location for much more than a yr, even leaving the cast’s possessions in location in the dressing rooms, waiting for pandemic restrictions to loosen ample to convey it back to whole velocity. The non-human users of the forged and crew essential special care, in a natural way.

“When it shut, we experienced no strategy how extensive it would be or what was coming future, and we also have the horses, a complete different issue that experienced to be viewed as,” he reported. “Ultimately they had been moved from the barn at the resort to a ranch and that’s in which they resided for this time period. They basically got a good family vacation, a good yr off to take pleasure in becoming horses.”

One of the major troubles with reopening “Tournament of Kings” was the conditioning of the 14 to 17 horses that keep completely ready to complete. The animals returned to Excalibur about a thirty day period before the rest of the forged to get the job done with a handful of riders on a day by day basis and get acquainted with the actions of the demonstrate. Shelburne reported that method “went like clockwork.”

One more complication that designed it complicated for “Tournament” to reopen before restrictions had been totally lifted was that famed feast that also sets the demonstrate aside. Although some on line casino dining places with live amusement got back to motion immediately through the pandemic yr, this operation is clearly on one more scale. Dozens of foodstuff servers are also aspect of the workforce.

“The entire forged and crew is incredibly enthusiastic and extremely thankful to be functioning again,” Shelburne reported. “We take pleasure in it. Which is why we’re there, and usually 1 of the most enjoyment and one of a kind factors of the demonstrate is the viewers. They grow to be scene associates with us and they are usually participating, and we’ve definitely been looking ahead to owning them there again to grow to be aspect of the demonstrate with us.”